Gordon Young - Opinionshttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/86041/rss.xml
enBe brave, Scotland – and remind advertising why it should have faith in courageous ideashttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2014/09/18/be-brave-scotland-and-remind-advertising-why-it-should-have-faith-courageous
<p>Land of the brave?</p>
<p>Apparently that’s no longer a good description of advertising. A recent Advertising Week Twitter chat with Cindy Gallop seemed to suggest big agencies are losing their nerve.</p>
<p>Gallop will be building on this theme when she takes part in Advertising Week in New York next month, and no doubt she will be practising what she preaches when she guest edits an issue of The Drum magazine which will be launched during the event.</p>
<p>Gallop, founder of BBH New York, IfWeRanTheWorld and MakeLoveNotPorn, argues that a fundamental problem is the structure of big corporates dominated by white faces, belonging to self-satisfied middle-aged men.</p>
<p>She said during the Twitter chat: “We won’t see creative bravery at the top of holding cos. Closed loop of white guys talking to white guys about other white guys. #awchat”</p>
<p>Her solution was summed up in another neat 140-character sound bite: “When you’re the norm, nobody wants to rock the boat. Want creative bravery? Hire deviants. And champion deviants.” And some of these “deviants”, she argued, should be brown, black, yellow and female.</p>
<p>The cultural make up of the industry is certainly one challenge, but there also seems to be evidence of a deeper malaise here. 20 years ago the agency landscape was also dominated by white, college-educated men, but back then the work was more courageous. So if the cultural make up hasn’t changed, why is the work less gutsy?</p>
<p>In the UK, Gallop’s former boss Sir John Hegarty – both white and a man – argues that the industry is certainly less bold than when he was in his prime.</p>
<p>“I think it has lost faith in the big, bold idea,” Hegarty said earlier this year. “I think it has lost its courage and I’m deeply upset by that. Too many people leading our industry are accountants, and I think for a creative industry that’s a tragedy. We’ve lost the power and courage of creativity to drive our business forward.”</p>
<p>Clearly that is not happening enough, and in fairness, for good reason. Perhaps driven by those focused on margin, there is now more emphasis on giving clients what they want (or what they think they want) as opposed to what they really need.</p>
<p>With the sector increasingly competitive there is a sense that there is always some shop prepared to cut costs, or cut standards in order to keep a client on side. In other words, being brave is simply seen as being too risky.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that giving clients what they want is the easy option in the short term, but in the long term – and in an increasingly volatile world – it is also the road to ruin. In reality, being brave is the only sustainable option. Timidity is actually the riskier route. So demote the accountants and promote deviants. </p>
<p>On the subject of bravery, there is a good parallel here with the momentous decision facing the people of Scotland on Thursday. When we talk about advertising losing its mojo, nowhere is that more evident than in Scotland, where the country’s once thriving ad business has been reduced to a shell of its former glory in recent times. Naval gazing about the quality of its ouput would be a luxury for an industry that has not so much lost its creative spark as lost the bulk of its agencies altogether in recent times.</p>
<p>I have already <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2014/09/02/i-love-you-too-england-i-still-intend-vote-yes-scottish-independence-referendum-0">made the case</a> that ignoring the fear factor, and voting yes in today's referendum, could finally rejuvenate Scotland’s advertising industry. Yes there are risks attached, but surely none bigger than settling for the status quo and sleepwalking towards further, irrevocable, decline.</p>
<p>Come on, be brave!</p>
<p><strong>Gordon Young is editor of The Drum. This article first appeared as the leader column in the 17 September issue of The Drum magazine.</strong></p>
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Thu, 18 Sep 2014 11:54:39 BSTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2014/09/18/be-brave-scotland-and-remind-advertising-why-it-should-have-faith-courageousI love you too England, but I still intend to vote Yes in the Scottish Independence Referendumhttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2014/09/02/i-love-you-too-england-i-still-intend-vote-yes-scottish-independence-referendum-0
<p>Every time I mention that I intend to vote Yes in the Scottish Independence referendum I can almost see the hurt in the eyes of my English pals.</p>
<p>You can tell emotions are running high south of the border. Paul McCartney has just signed a letter telling us how much he values us, Adam&amp;EveDDB has put together a website inviting people to tug Scottish heart strings and there is an open letter doing the rounds which declares England's love of the Scots.</p>
<p>But such activity demonstrates just how out of sync sentiment is South of the Border with what is going on in the highways and by-ways of Scotland.</p>
<p>There, the debate has transcended 19th century nationalism. It is neither pro-English or anti-English. It simply revolves around what is the best way to govern Scotland. That perhaps explains why so many English people who have moved North of the Border are also minded to put their cross in the Yes box.</p>
<p>From my perspective I am a rabid Anglophile. I love the place. In fact if somebody organised an open love letter to the English I would be one of the first to sign on the dotted line. Seriously, it must be the most open, tolerant and welcoming country in the world.</p>
<p>The very fact that this is one of the few places which would allow such a referendum to take place without some form of armed intervention testifies to these qualities. </p>
<p>But that is not going to stop me voting Yes. The experience of helping to set up The Drum has very much shaped my judgement. </p>
<p>Over the past 30 years we have charted the relentless decline of the Scottish marketing industry. Hell, it even declined during the boom years - when Gordon Brown was proclaiming the end of bust.</p>
<p>One after another large agency closed - Rex Steward, Riley, The Bridge, Faulds, Ogilvy &amp; Mather, 1576, Barkers, Morgan Associates, Elmwood, Blue Peach, Navy Blue, Newhaven, McIlroy Coates...the list goes on and on. In fact, Scotland has the dubious distinction of being the very first market in the world where McCann-Erickson closed an office. </p>
<p>Clients too have vanished from the scene for one reason or another - Bells, Royal Bank, Bank of Scotland, TSB, Clydesdale, John Lewis, Standard Life, Wm Low, Kwik-Fit, British Midland and John Menzies Retail. </p>
<p>Today, a mere rump of an industry is left. Okay - there are some good players around - but there are account groups in single London agencies which are bigger than the entire Scottish 'industry'.</p>
<p>So enfeebled is the market that even those behind the No campaign could not find an agency North of the Border to run their campaign selling the benefits of the Union with England. The account is handled by M&amp;C Saatchi London.</p>
<p>Why is this important? Well in my view the marketing business remains a canary in the coal mind for the economy as a whole. If it coughs and splutters then the business sector itself is in peril. Perhaps that is why the best part of one million Scots have migrated to England - there simply is not the opportunities North of the Border.</p>
<p>I have listened to the No campaign arguments. I have read their websites and literature. But I can find no cohesive argument as to why a No vote would arrest this relentless decline.</p>
<p>So I have become convinced that Scotland's business community is in cardiac arrest. it needs a radical shock to the system if it stand any chance of revival. And in my view a Yes vote has more chance of delivering that.</p>
<p>The very transfer of the primary economic levers to Edinburgh will help. A cut in corporation tax for example will give companies a reason to move their operations North of the Border.</p>
<p>That was certainly the experience with Dublin which, for example now has 2,000 Google employees, which compares to just one in Scotland the last time I checked. </p>
<p>Another key power is control of immigration. Scotland needs more Scots - in fact the population has been largely static for decades, which in itself is a real barrier to growth.</p>
<p>But apart from all that, in my view the change of sentiment in the country that a Yes vote would bring about is a strong reason in its own right. As one one leading business figure put it; independence would be akin to a 'management buyout'. The energy and enthusiasm this alone would generate would make a difference in itself.</p>
<p>Incidentally, as far as arguments about North Sea oil, EU membership and currency union goes, I have to admit that I am persuaded by the Yes camp's arguments that many of the No contentions are paramount to scaremongering. </p>
<p>In many ways the difficult trading conditions forced The Drum to look outwards. We expanded first into the English regions and then to London. Today we are the UK's largest marketing website employing 45 people in Glasgow and 21 in London.</p>
<p>But that experience of expanding across the English regions has given us fascinating insights into the challenges the UK as a whole faces. There is no doubt London (which I love too by the way) is both its biggest asset and its largest liability,</p>
<p>It does suck the life blood from the regions - in terms of investment. talent and profile. In fact I am told it is actually Scotland's third largest city by population. And I marvel at the infra-structure in the South East.</p>
<p>From the balcony of my London flat for example I can see a cable-car system in one direction and parts of the massive Crossrail development - Europe's largest construction scheme - in the other. Glasgow Airport meanwhile doesn't even have a rail link connecting it terminal with the city centre. The South West, North West and North East of England actually face many similar problems. Their marketing industry canaries are also beginning to cough and splutter. </p>
<p>I believe that a dynamic, growing Scotland, would at last provide a counterbalance to the London powerhouse in these islands. Simply having the Scottish border would add spark to the economies of the Northern regions.</p>
<p>A streamlined Westminster legislature that has at last managed to deal with the West Lothian Question, would also be able to focus on the specific challenges the rest of the UK faces. And, reeling from the shock of an independent Scotland, I believe the political elite would at last start seriously addressing the challenges faced by the English regions; and a good start would be to give them more power over their own affairs. </p>
<p>This would be a great thing - because by neglecting its regions England is currently falling miles short of its true economic potential. </p>
<p>So my message to Paul McCartney, Adam&amp;EveDDB, et al is that I am not voting yes to break-up Britain. I am voting yes because i reckon it could put the Great back into Britain as an economic zone.</p>
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Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:09:53 BSTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2014/09/02/i-love-you-too-england-i-still-intend-vote-yes-scottish-independence-referendum-0Digital marketing is not dead - it&#039;s just no longer a distinct discipline as Dmexco firms MediaMath, Kiip, AdTruth and OpenX provehttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2013/09/25/digital-marketing-not-dead-its-just-no-longer-distinct-discipline-dmexco-firms
<p>What was the key takeaway from this year’s Dmexco, the digital marketing event? Its sheer scale. Hundreds of companies – many of which did not exist 10 years ago – frantically selling to 25,000 people doing jobs that didn’t exist back then either. </p>
<p>If any evidence was required that a communications revolution is well and truly underway, this was it. OK, there were no major surprises in the main conference itself. Content is still king. This is still the year of mobile. Big data is still the future, etc.</p>
<p>However, one line from the conference did stand out. Marc Pritchard from Procter &amp; Gamble proclaimed ‘<a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/09/18/dmexco-digital-marketing-dead-proclaims-procter-gambles-global-brand-building" rel="nofollow">digital marketing is dead</a>.’</p>
<p>Reviewing many of the conversations The Drum had on the exhibition floor, it is easy to appreciate what he meant.</p>
<p>For example Farzad Jamal of OpenX, the programmatic tech platform, told us how it has commissioned a study beyond the screen, which will look at how advertisers might be able to exploit opportunities emerging in the ‘internet of things’, including wearable technologies.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Erich Wasserman of MediaMath described his vision for the future, which will see business take data from the showroom to the stockroom and adjust online media in real time. “The model of the future will be seamless,” he said, “data will be used across all business channels simultaneously.”</p>
<p>We spoke to Brian Wong of Kiip, the network that allows companies to target consumers when they are doing things they would be doing anyway – like offering a free film download when they have completed a task in a to-do list app, or offering a healthy drink when they have achieved the goals set in a fitness app. He also explained how Snoop Dogg has integrated the technology into his app, so he can give his fans a free download.</p>
<p>We also caught up with AdTruth, which has built systems that use data to recognise individual devices, as opposed to their users – a system that could pre-empt future privacy issues. However, the focus on hardware may also be a way to tackle media fraud – according to some reports, up to 50 per cent of internet traffic may be made up of bots as opposed to real people.</p>
<p>So how does all this activity validate the statement ‘digital marketing is dead’? Well, on one level, the sheer scale of Dmexco proves that digital marketing is no longer a distinct discipline – it is simply marketing.</p>
<p>But on another level it illustrates that the revolution we are seeing is not only set to transform the world of communications, sales and marketing. The new processes which you can see emerging are revolutionising the economy as a whole.</p>
<p><strong>Gordon Young is editor of The Drum. This is his leader column for The Drum's 27 September print edition.</strong></p>
Wed, 25 Sep 2013 14:15:57 BSTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2013/09/25/digital-marketing-not-dead-its-just-no-longer-distinct-discipline-dmexco-firmsDid Hyundai actually benefit from suicide ad criticism?http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2013/05/14/did-hyundai-actually-benefit-suicide-ad-criticism
<p>‘A mum’s disapproval has always been an accurate barometer for what is cool’, proclaimed a promo for the computer game Dead Space 2. It’s a good line which in my view also gives an insight into why some major brands have recently found themselves at the centre of social media – and then mainstream media – storms.</p>
<p>Recent examples include Hyundai which ran an online commercial which, in order to demonstrate the low emissions of a new car, featured a failed suicide attempt. In the US meanwhile Mountain Dew launched what was dubbed by one as “the most racist commercial ever”. The online spot was made by rapper Tyler the Creator and featured a goat, a white assault victim and an all black police line-up. (Incidentally it was the goat that did it.) An earlier online spot, this time for Volkswagen, sees a suicide bomber detonate his vest only for the blast to be contained inside the car. The line? “Polo. Small but tough.”</p>
<p>The ads all followed a similar trajectory. First, an apparent social media backlash, followed by claims from the companies that they were not directly responsible for the work. ‘Plausible deniability’ is the term that springs to mind. They were all then withdrawn from official sites (although all can still be found online) and the company said sorry.</p>
<p>But one can’t help feeling there may be more upside than downside to this approach. For example, once the companies respond to the social media mob, the criticism rapidly dissipates. And there is no doubt Hyundai’s zero emission message or Volkswagen’s small but tough proposition did stick. Will Mountain Dew really worry about its new edgy bad boy profile?</p>
<p>In the Dead Space 2 promo, the game invited mums to review the new product. They then recorded their horror about how such a game could have ever been made, which is bound to have made it more appealing to teenage boys. It only proves that criticism can actually boost brands – depending, of course, on who is criticising.</p>
<p>Now on one hand employing either suicide or suicide bombing to sell cars will always be difficult to defend. But on the other, as the legendary ad man George Lois once wrote, “Safe conventional work is a ticket to oblivion. Great creativity should stun, as modern art was supposed to shock, by presenting the viewer with an idea that seemingly suspends conventions of understanding. In that swift interval between the shock and the realisation that what you are presenting is not as outrageous as it seems, you capture your audience.”</p>
<p>Want to see an example of such work? Check out the <a href="http://www.chipshopawards.com/nominations" rel="nofollow">nominations</a> for the Chip Shop Awards 2013.</p>
<p><strong>This article first appeared as the Leader column in the <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/05/09/drum-magazine-10-may-2013" rel="nofollow">10 May edition of The Drum magazine</a></strong></p>
Tue, 14 May 2013 10:19:14 BSTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2013/05/14/did-hyundai-actually-benefit-suicide-ad-criticismWhy The Drum would not have existed if it wasn’t for Margaret Thatcherhttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2013/04/09/why-drum-would-not-have-existed-if-it-wasn-t-margaret-thatcher
<p>If it wasn’t for Margaret Thatcher the website you are currently looking at would not exist. The 40 odd people I can see as I write these words would not be here. Initiatives such as the Chip Shop Awards, DADIs and The Drum Design Awards would never have happened. </p>
<p>This business, which I helped found, first emerged in 1984 when the country was in the grip of the miners’ strike. But it was not only in coal, where the unions' influence was felt. They controlled my industry in a way which is impossible to imagine now.</p>
<p>In fact we launched what was to become The Drum magazine, to replace another title, which had effectively been closed down by union action. It had attempted to implement a redundancy to secure its future. Powerful unions decreed the person be reinstated or the title would be blacklisted by those in its supply chain. It complied only to close a few months later.</p>
<p>Thanks to Thatcher’s reforms, by the time we appeared on the scene such power was on the wane. But we still had to tread carefully. I was advised that I too should join a union, to ensure that compositors and printers would agree to work on our title.</p>
<p>But imagine my concern when at my first meeting I found that we were already on the union agenda. Some were unhappy that we had run a piece in support of free newspapers, which many saw as a threat to paid-fors. Not long before plans to set up a free title in Clydebank were scuppered by union action. </p>
<p>Not only were new concepts viewed with disdain, but so was new technology. There were still newspapers which used hot metal when we first appeared. Really, compositors sat with molten buckets of lead at their feet. Just imagine how these people would deem the internet if even photo-composition was such an anathema?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, like a brooding giant, a printing works sat silent in a Glasgow industrial estate as a result of this Luddite tendency.</p>
<p>It was the Scottish home of News International, which had lain dormant for years because of union opposition. But in 1985, it burst into life as NI made the move to Wapping.</p>
<p>Made possible by Thatcher’s new laws, the move was historic. It saw control of the company move from unions back to its management. But the ripples have continued to reverberate.</p>
<p>It would not have been possible to start The Drum in the pre-Thatcher era. But so too would it have been impossible to create the vibrant, dynamic and successful ecosystem which is today’s UK media and marketing scene.</p>
Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:16:33 BSTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2013/04/09/why-drum-would-not-have-existed-if-it-wasn-t-margaret-thatcherTales of alleged fraud, drugs and child rape: Why it’s vital we stop Alex Salmond’s Leveson lawhttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/12/17/tales-fraud-drugs-and-child-rape-why-it-s-vital-we-stop-alex-salmond-s-leveson
<p>I find Alex Salmond’s ambition to strengthen Scottish press regulation in the form of a ‘McLeveson’ law slighty surreal. Because in my view the real challenge facing Scottish newspapers is not their reckless risk taking but their tendency to be risk averse.</p>
<p>It is a trait which is depriving readers of the sort of newspapers they want to read – which explains the relentless decline in circulations – but more importantly is depriving society of the sort of checks and balances vital to a healthy democracy.</p>
<p>As I have written before, you do not have to venture far off the well-trodden PR path to find mysteries, potential scandals and legitimate public interest questions abandoned in the undergrowth.</p>
<p>Much of this material is the sort of stuff which inspired many of those journalists reared on films like ‘All the President’s Men’ to get into this profession in the first place.</p>
<p>Now The Drum is not really in the business of holding the political classes to account. But even we can’t help stubbing our toe on the odd forgotten issue lying hidden in the long grass. Very often it’s the sort of stuff that would have been picked up by the old investigation teams of the past who once tended our public interest landscape.</p>
<p>A few examples spring to mind. The story of former newspaper executive Steve Sampson for example. He was the man who persuaded Scottish Enterprise to invest £1m in his start up Talent Nation only to be accused of transferring much of this cash into his own personal account shortly afterwards, leaving staff unpaid, a bankrupt business and much acrimony behind. Since other investors in Talent Nation – which was placed into liquidation by Scottish Enterprise - included Premier League football players and other sports stars you would have expected to see this story appear across the Scottish press, despite Sampson's denials that he had done anything wrong. Apart from in The Drum, it hardly merited a mention elsewhere. </p>
<p>Another example of where the Scottish media were surprisingly mute was in reporting the resignation of high-flying Glasgow City Council leader, Steven Purcell back in 2010.</p>
<p>He shocked the political establishing by suddenly resigning – citing a nervous breakdown.</p>
<p>But it wasn’t long before rumours of drug abuse and allegations of patronage surfaced, fuelled by the fact that he received a visit from police warning him of potential blackmail.</p>
<p>To put this in context, it is the equivalent of the career of Boris Johnson suddenly going up in a puff of cocaine; Purcell was seen as a potential Scottish First Minister.</p>
<p>The saga was covered unconvincingly. The Herald, for example, initially carried surprisingly little comment about the scandal.</p>
<p>Perhaps Purcell was simply really good at crisis PR. And he certainly had some good advisers. They included Jack Irvine – once an editor of The Scottish Sun (and colleague of Steve Sampson) - who is now seen as a Scottish Max Clifford. His business is called Media House.</p>
<p>Meanwhile he received legal advice from Irvine’s friend and business associate Peter Watson of Levy &amp; McRae (who also at one stage advised Steve Sampson).</p>
<p>Levy &amp; McRae were certainly well placed to advise on media matters. His team also worked (and still does) for many newspapers including the Herald, advising them on what could and could not, be published.</p>
<p>The arrangement struck The Drum as strange, which is why we wrote to every newspaper which was represented by Levy &amp; McRae asking if they thought that the set up – where they were running stories on somebody also represented by the firm – might add up to a conflict of interest.</p>
<p>The Sunday Herald eventually carried a full page editorial which read: “There have been hints that some Scottish newspapers have pulled their punches because editors have been too close to Steven Purcell or worse have been cowed in submission by Peter Watson and PR firm Media House.”</p>
<p>Herald MD Tim Blott confirmed: “We are currently reviewing our relationship with Levy &amp; McRae in the light about our editors’ concerns about any current or future conflict of interests.”</p>
<p>Adding impetus to this process was the fact that one arm of Levy &amp; McRae had demanded a right of reply for a piece another arm of the firm had cleared for publication in a Herald title.</p>
<p>However, despite the public posturing the group re-appointed Levy &amp; McRae, albeit with a new set of safeguards.</p>
<p>Levy &amp; McRae were also well placed to advise Purcell on criminal law. Strathclyde Police, which investigated the Purcell resignation, sought advice from the Crown Office on how to proceed.</p>
<p>Watson acts for the Strathclyde Police Federation and has advised the Crown Office and its head honcho the Lord Advocate in the past.</p>
<p>The Drum has first-hand experience of this, because in 2009 the then Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini, instructed Levy &amp; McRae to take action against our company.</p>
<p>Our then sister title The Firm had published allegations that while Angiolini was Procurator Fiscal in Aberdeen, her office had failed to handle an investigation into an alleged paedophile ring properly.<br />
In the end she dropped her defamation claim and a referral to the Press Complaints Commission was settled without an adjudication being made.</p>
<p>In the aftermath The Drum wanted to find out who had paid for her action – because in a defamation case the only recourse an individual can hope for is compensation which would be paid to them personally.</p>
<p>So did she pay her own bills? As the Lord Advocate she employs more lawyers than anybody else in Scotland, so you would have thought she would have been able to get advice for free. Or did the Government pay for outsourcing this to a private firm? </p>
<p>And there was another point too. The victim at the heart of the original allegations – a Down Syndrome child – received £15,000 as part of the criminal compensation scheme. Angiolini’s costs could have amounted to more than this. So did she spend more public money defending her reputation than this young girl received for being raped?</p>
<p>Of course there is also a bigger picture here. If a government starts using its vast resource to sue journalists it will inevitably compromise the ability of media to do its jobs and call politicians and their political appointees to account.</p>
<p>That was why we lodged a Freedom of Information Request with the Crown Office. And I suspect it was also why it was simply denied. To this day we do not know who footed Angiolini’s bill.</p>
<p>Now in itself none of this is hard evidence of wrongdoing. But it is evidence of all the untold stories lying submerged in the murk of Scottish public life. At the moment it is, in my view, short sighted commercial pressures that are stopping media owners doing their jobs. But in the future they could be further muzzled by McLeveson.</p>
<p>I have to say the composition of the Leveson advisory panel the Scottish Government are proposing doesn’t fill me with confidence.</p>
<p>It includes one Peter Watson of Levy &amp; McRae. Perhaps it might adopt a paragraph the firm had on its website as its credo: “With a low profile, we aim to keep clients off the front page and take swift and effective action where required. Being networked at the highest levels and having access to major decision makers is key to our success.”</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong><br />
Levy &amp; McRae have been in touch on behalf of Elish Angiolini asking me to set the record straight in one important respect; which I am happy to do. Originally I wrote that the Press Complaints Commission rejected her complaint against The Firm. In actual fact they never adjudicated on the matter as The Firm and Levy &amp; McRrae <a href="http://www.firmmagazine.com/news/1790/Lord_Advocate_%E2%80%9Cnot_involved%2C_no_connection%2C_unaware%E2%80%9D_in_decision_not_to_prosecute_paedophile_ring_10_years_ago_.html" rel="nofollow">reached an agreement</a> (which involved no admission of liability on The Firm’s part and both sides paid their own costs). It was after this that The Drum lodged its Freedom of Information request to find out if Angiolini had received a form of ‘Scottish Legal Aid’ to cover her costs. <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2010/04/28/did-scot-gov-finance-lord-advocate-angiolini-libel-action-against-media" rel="nofollow">Our report on this matter</a> led to another Press Complaints Commission referral by Levy &amp; McRae which was <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2010/07/28/press-complaints-commission-finds-favour-drum" rel="nofollow">ultimately rejected</a>. I have amended the above blog accordingly. So sorry Elish, we all make the odd mistakes from time to time.</p>
<p><strong><em>Gordon Young is editor of The Drum</em></strong></p>
Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:04:06 GMTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/12/17/tales-fraud-drugs-and-child-rape-why-it-s-vital-we-stop-alex-salmond-s-levesonCould Leveson Inquiry Report hack off likes of Mail Online to extent they move base outside UK?http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/12/07/why-failure-understand-power-online-renders-leveson-report-irrelevant
<p>Talk about rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. After a frantic couple of weeks we are now apparently moving towards a new regulatory regime for the printed press.</p>
<p>National newspaper editors have been dashing hither and thither to rearrange the regulatory furniture to avoid statutory controls in the wake of the Leveson Report.</p>
<p>However, one can’t help but wonder if their efforts might turn out to be irrelevant – and the report itself a historical curiosity.</p>
<p>The four volume tome demonstrates that the newspaper business seems to be holed below the waterline – with only a few years to live.<br />
Buried within its 2,000 pages was the fact that sales of the top national dailies have sunk by 40% between September 2002 and 2012. If this trend continues there won’t be an industry worth regulating by 2022. </p>
<p>Of course there have been several attempts to regulate the industry before – but none have cowed the business to this extent. That might be partly because of the weight of its transgressions this time round.</p>
<p>But it might also be because the industry is now a shadow of its former self. In those halcyon days prior to the internet and multi-channel television, papers like The Mirror, for example, once sold up to 7m copies a day; a far cry from its current circulation of around 1m.</p>
<p>Any politician looking to meddle with that sort of power base did so at their peril. So ironically, the fact that the press is weaker partly explains why it has submitted to more powerful regulation.</p>
<p>However, the cause for this weakness – the internet – hardly merited mention in the Leveson report itself. Referring to it as an ‘ethical vacuum’, the net was dismissed in a few short paragraphs because Leveson did not believe people took online news as seriously as information published by newspapers.</p>
<p>Although the websites of newspapers which sign up to the new code will be covered by the new regime, it is not clear what will happen if one day in the future they close their offline products. At that point the fear of statutory intervention will be less of a stick, as it will be easier to move websites offshore.</p>
<p>This means organisations like the Mail Online might one day argue that since they have grown into global products, it would be no longer appropriate for them to submit to regulation from a particular national government. </p>
<p>So although Leveson gives a fascinating insight into the history of the British press, the report fails to cover its digital future. Even Lord Leveson himself seemed to acknowledge this failing. For in one of the few post-publication comments he has made, he said new laws would ultimately be required to regulate the internet.</p>
<p>But of course, how this will be achieved in practice is anyone’s guess – as such laws are not within the gift of any one nation state.</p>
<p>So in my view – despite the hype and new Government inspired constructs – the ultimate regulator or the British press will remain its readers. If they disagree with an organisation’s tone, ethics or editorial line they can click their mouse and go elsewhere. </p>
<p>And after listening to all those advocates of statutory control, I say: ‘thank God for that’.</p>
<p><strong><em>Gordon Young is editor of The Drum</em></strong></p>
Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:13:38 GMTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/12/07/why-failure-understand-power-online-renders-leveson-report-irrelevantWhy it&#039;s time for Sally Bercow to pay up as well as shut up after Lord McAlpine Twitter debaclehttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/11/20/why-its-time-sally-bercow-pay-well-shut-after-lord-mcalpine-twitter-debacle
<p>It could be the case with the most defendants in legal history. Lord McAlpine has 10,000 Twitter users in his sights, along with traditional media owners such as the BBC and ITV.</p>
<p>Just as football fans became intimate with the intricacies of the CVA thanks to the Rangers debacle, the social media community are about to learn all about libel.</p>
<p>No bad thing in my view. Some of them, most prominently *innocent face* Sally Bercow, may feel they are being hard done by. Surely Twitter itself should protect users from such risk? And Bercow even referred to lawyers pursuing her in one tweet as #bigbullies.</p>
<p>But hold on. She was part of the lynch mob that strung up the reputation of an innocent man. She, like everyone else involved, has to learn that with personal freedom comes personal responsibility. If you want to use your Freedom of Tweet to accuse somebody of a crime, then you have to be prepared to face the consequences if you are wrong.</p>
<p>The issue gives an interesting symmetry to the on-going debate about press regulation.</p>
<p>Many fear that Leveson may be about to recommend statutory controls of the press in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.</p>
<p>But the BBC’s role in both the McAlpine and the Jimmy Savile affairs must have given him cause to pause. </p>
<p>On one hand the BBC failed to unmask Savile as one of history’s most prolific child abusers. Then on the other, they all but named Lord McAlpine as a paedophile in a Newsnight report, despite the fact he was entirely innocent.</p>
<p>That was no doubt the genesis of the Twitter frenzy. Many would have tweeted out Lord McAlpine’s name confident in the fact that an organisation like the BBC thought he was guilty.</p>
<p>The BBC of course is already one of the most heavily regulated media institutions in the UK. And what this debacle proves is that regulation is no guarantee of standards. If a Director General becomes a Bystander General, or a newspaper journalist decides to break the criminal law, things will go awry no matter what regime is in place.</p>
<p>The current system of checks and balances - that combine self-regulation with civil and criminal law - is in fact an effective way of dealing with these failings. The real issue with phone hacking was not the system, but simply a failure to enforce it. Elements need to be tweaked – such as the law of libel and the role of the Press Complaints Commission – but fundamentally the system works, particularly because it is monitored by a free and vibrant press. </p>
<p>So let’s hope we can move forward into an era where both the press and citizen journalists alike – using platforms such as Twitter - always have the freedom to publish and be damned.</p>
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:51:53 GMTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/11/20/why-its-time-sally-bercow-pay-well-shut-after-lord-mcalpine-twitter-debacleThe Incredinburgh secret of city branding successhttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/11/06/incredinburgh-secret-city-branding-success
<p>There are two main traits to city branding. It is always controversial. And after a brief 15 minutes of fame the new brand usually disappears into obscurity – normally only enduring in the form of rusty road signs or ragged street banners.</p>
<p>Edinburgh recently embarked on a rebranding type project, and certainly ticked the first box. The creative director of the agency involved and the deputy leader of the city council had a spectacular falling out over the chosen line. As we have reported on these pages… it was <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2012/11/02/leith-agency-suspends-long-standing-creative-director-gerry-farrell-over-king-cobra" rel="nofollow">Incredinburgh</a><a rel="nofollow"></a>.</p>
<p>Over the years I have reported on dozens of these initiatives who collectively cost the public purse God only knows how much. From Manchester’s ‘We’re up and Going’ to ‘There’s a lot Glasgowing on’ to Edinburgh ‘Inspiring Capital’ - few have even left a trace on Google never mind a mark on the collective consciousness of its residents, visitors and potential inward investors.</p>
<p>However, there are a couple of notable exceptions. ‘I Love New York’, for example, was launched in the mid-70s and is going strong to this day. It is hard to step outside in the Big Apple without coming across at least a dozen examples of the slogan within minutes. But perhaps more interesting is ‘Glasgow’s Miles Better’. Launched in the early 80s, this campaign still exists in the collective consciousness of the citizenry despite the best efforts of the municipal authorities to kill it off.</p>
<p>In my view there are two key ingredients if a campaign stands any chance. First and foremost you must have a half decent product. And Glasgow and New York both came up trumps on that front.</p>
<p>And secondly, the local population must believe and buy into the message. It is their support and endorsement that will give a campaign its life. Them being prepared to put stickers on their bumpers, branded t-shirts on their backs and posters in their windows is always worth more than expensive TV commercials or spectacular 96 sheets. </p>
<p>It’s an argument social media aficionados will get. ‘I Love New York’ and ‘Glasgow Miles Better’ were effectively pre-internet memes. Both initially had tiny budgets and relied on their citizens to get the message out in the form of car stickers and word of mouth.</p>
<p>Glasgow’s current campaign, ‘Scotland with Style’, has never resonated in the same way. Perhaps it is just a bit too contrived for the car sticker brigade: after all the stylish do not normally have to say they have style. And I sense Edinburgh’s latest campaign also commits the cardinal sin of feeling a bit too top down.</p>
<p>At the end of the day what makes cities great is not buildings, shops or visitor attractions but people. And their buy-in is the secret ingredient in terms of city marketing campaigns that actually work.</p>
Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:59:11 GMTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/11/06/incredinburgh-secret-city-branding-successWhy the creative sector in Scotland and the north of England is heading southhttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/11/01/why-creative-sector-scotland-and-north-england-heading-south
<p>Scotland may occupy the Northern half of our realm, but there is a real sense that its creative industry has been heading south for quite some time.</p>
<p>Now before going any further I should point out that there are still some great agencies doing some great work. The likes of Newhaven, The Union and The Leith are still first rate shops. </p>
<p>And there are some great players in the world of digital such as Equator, Dog and Spider to name but three.</p>
<p>However, the fact remains that there are account groups in some London agencies that are bigger than the entire Scottish scene.</p>
<p>Over the years many of its agencies have closed, clients have moved their business south and the talent pool is now more of a puddle.</p>
<p>And it is not only the creative sector that is showing signs of distress. Architecture, finance and law are also suffering. In fact, one former Law Society head told me recently that he believes Scotland is on the brink of becoming a ‘non-viable’ jurisdiction. Basically, what is the point of having a separate legal system, if there are no lawyers prepared to practice North of the Border?</p>
<p>The credit crunch is no doubt a factor in this malaise. But the reality is Scotland's creative industry was in decline even during the boom. Despite the millions that have been invested in the creative sector by Government since the 90s, it is now a shadow of its former self.</p>
<p>It’s almost like the industry has been infected by a form of ash dieback – giant swathes of the sector have silently disappeared. And in my view a whole cultural ecosystem is now infected.</p>
<p>In Scotland, for example, the newspaper business is more Barratt estate than Fourth Estate. Its journalistic front line is so depleted it no longer has the firepower to seriously challenge the country’s authorities.</p>
<p>You don’t need to venture far off the beaten track of diary stories and press releases, to find scandal lying neglected in the long grass – stuff which would have been aggressively pursued just a few years ago.</p>
<p>Perhaps that’s why the news agendas are dominated by independence. The economic story, the fact that Scotland is not only losing its creative sector, but its private sector, is something likely to have a far more significant impact on the people who live here. But it hardly merits a mention, because many news operations don’t have the resources to challenge the official version of events.</p>
<p>But the really alarming thing about the Scottish story, is that it is not unique within the context of the UK. Other regions are also showing signs of infection – Newcastle, Leeds and parts of the Midlands too are in the advanced stages of losing much of their creative businesses.</p>
<p>It is now obvious that the gap between London and the rest of the UK is growing wider. In fact, particularly to those used to the chill economic winds of Northern Britain, balmy London does not even feel as though it is in recession at all.</p>
<p>This is what made a report, published by Michael Heseltine yesterday, all the more interesting. Its general thrust was to suggest how Britain could grow itself out of recession. But many of its 89 recommendations had a common theme – how to pull wealth and power out of the South East and into other regions.</p>
<p>I agree with many of the sentiments. There is no doubt, in my view, that the economy is over-centralised in London, to the detriment of the UK as a whole. Anybody who spends any time in the other great cities such as Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham is left convinced that the talent, energy and passion which made Britain great in the first place is still there. But latent. </p>
<p>In my view, what needs done to unlock this potential is not rocket science. Entrepreneurism is a natural state. Create the right conditions and - all by itself - it will take root, like a barren desert bursting into bloom with the first rainfall of the season.</p>
<p>To help the creative industries for example, the Government's job should be to ensure it is treating the disease as opposed to the symptoms. </p>
<p>And the medicine might taste terrible in the short term, because it would include redeploying all the resource used to directly intervene in the marketing industry elsewhere.</p>
<p>Agencies are not dying because they can’t get access to training, advice or cheese and wine parties. They are going to the wall because there are not enough clients. And this is where any Government resource should be channeled. We need new Kwik-Fits, DFSs and Irn Brus, to ensure business which moves on is constantly being replaced.</p>
<p>One priority should be infrastructure. Planes, trains and automobiles, as well as broadband, are required to green our economic desert.</p>
<p>Another twist on this would be to ensure new transport links start connecting the great regional centres to each other. At the moment, every road leads to London. But you should try driving from Glasgow to Newcastle. It's not easy. Or taking the train from Manchester to Glasgow. Most services require at least one change. At the moment it is difficult for the UK regions to trade between themselves.</p>
<p>But if you do manage to travel around, you will be exposed to a country that still has a massive range of variations – from accents to general attitudes. But one thing that always strikes me is that the most different place is London itself.</p>
<p>It is a dynamic and fantastic place, truly one of the great cities of the world. But if Britain is to become one of the great countries of the world then it has to engage its regions. It if fails, then it is only a matter of time before the ash dieback affecting Scotland spreads to the capital itself.</p>
<p><em>Of course it is not all doom and gloom North of the Border, and to demonstrate that The Drum will be publishing a special Scotland report in next week's edition.</em></p>
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 14:20:00 GMTGordon Younghttp://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2012/11/01/why-creative-sector-scotland-and-north-england-heading-south